Oh NBC, you crazy, crazy fools. My outrage over Dan Harmon‘s firing from Community is starting to fade – only a little – but it’s fading. Now I’m beginning to look to what comes next. What is Community‘s future? What cast members will return? What will they say when we ask them their opinion on Harmon’s unceremonious departure? We might never know what they really think because NBC has supplied them with this handy cheat sheet. Wow, aren’t they swell?

The Hollywood Reporter got a hold of this memo so we can read what the cast of Community thinks even before they have to tell us!

Why did Dan get let go from the show?

We’re not made aware of why staffing changes take place but I will always be grateful to Dan for his great work on the show and wish him only the best. We’re also excited that we’ll be back on NBC’s schedule in the fall and are looking forward to working on those episodes.

Were you aware that Dan was going to be let go?

No, that’s not something we’re consulted on. I’m sad to see him go but I am looking forward to starting our next 13 episodes of “Community.”

Did the studio or network consult with you about these changes?

No they didn’t but we’re looking forward to working with David Guarascio & Moses Port on a new season of Community.

What are their plans for the new season?

It’s a little early to say at this point but we’re looking forward the stories our characters will find themselves in come Sept.

Yup, those wouldn’t have come off as scripted and fake at all. Thankfully, Harmon isn’t beyond giving us his honest opinion on the matter, as he again took to his Tumblr,

I do want to correct a couple points of spin, now that I’m free to do so:

The important one is this quote from Bob Greenblatt in which he says he’s sure I’m going to be involved somehow, something like that. That’s a misquote. I think he meant to say he’s sure cookies are yummy, because he’s never called me once in the entire duration of his employment at NBC. He didn’t call me to say he was starting to work there, he didn’t call me to say I was no longer working there and he definitely didn’t call to ask if I was going to be involved. I’m not saying it’s wrong for him to have bigger fish to fry, I’m just saying, NBC is not a credible source of All News Dan Harmon.

You may have read that I am technically “signed on,” by default, to be an executive consulting something or other – which is a relatively standard protective clause for a creator in my position. Guys like me can’t actually just be shot and left in a ditch by Skynet, we’re still allowed to have a title on the things we create and “help out,” like, I guess sharpening pencils and stuff.

However, if I actually chose to go to the office, I wouldn’t have any power there. Nobody would have to do anything I said, ever. I would be “offering” thoughts on other people’s scripts, not allowed to rewrite them, not allowed to ask anyone else to rewrite them, not allowed to say whether a single joke was funny or go near the edit bay, etc. It’s….not really the way the previous episodes got done. I was what you might call a….hands on producer. Are my….periods giving this enough….pointedness? I’m not saying you can’t make a good version of Community without me, but I am definitely saying that you can’t make my version of it unless I have the option of saying “it has to be like this or I quit” roughly 8 times a day.

The same contract also gives me the same salary and title if I spend all day masturbating and playing Prototype 2. And before you ask yourself what you would do in my situation: buy Prototype 2. It’s fucking great.

FUUUUUUUUU. These final 13 episode of Community are gonna suck. Really, NBC, why even bother? Replacing Harmon as showrunners are David Guarascio and Moses Port, and man, what a thankless job they have ahead of them. The plan is for these final episodes to wrap up the show and provide a sense of closure. Most fear they’ll end up being the most un-Community-like episodes of the series without Harmon’s input, but hey, maybe Guarascio and Port will surprise us. I wish ’em good luck. They’re sure as hell gonna need it.

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